The escape of juvenile and young offenders from committal tends to challenge the logic of correctional institutions in Ghana. The occurrence of escapes suggests undisciplined and rebellious youngsters as well as reformers or detaining authorities who are incapable of ensuring that youngsters are confined for correction purposes.

This paper focuses on the escape occurrences surrounding a juvenile female offender namely, Afua. By dwelling on everyday subtleties in committal, the paper unearths nuanced practicalities that surround escapes occurrences such as enmeshed staff and inmate spheres. This paper therefore departs from dominant discourses surrounding escapes that focus either on punishing escapees or preventing escapes. Though the paper dwells on a singular case and does not lend itself to generalisations, it nevertheless provides useful insider insights on everyday detention life which are mostly invisible to the human rights monitor, practitioner or the public eye. I pay tribute to my research approach different from my practitioner approach, which largely contributed to unearthing such concealed practical details.

Discussions draw on empirical evidence stemming from participant observations, focus group discussions and interviews with staff and children in conflict with the law.